José Colomar is one of the visionaries of tourism on the island of Ibiza and was able to envisage the future of the island before anybody else even imagined it. He recalls stories and anecdotes from his travels around the world and has made his Isla Bonita his great project, converting it into an international landmark. José Colomar is an integral part of Ibiza’s history and one of the people who has most contributed to making it wat it is today: a benchmark in the world of tourism. This hotel businessman was ahead of his time, a businessman whose love for an island to which he has devoted his entire life remains intact.
He worked in Majorca, Germany and Paris and after countless posts, promotions and learning opportunities, returned to Ibiza to begin his first great project. Along with several partners he built the Hotel Fenicia in Santa Eulària des Riu, which he eventually sold to fulfil his great dream of creating a four-star hotel in the centre of Ibiza to serve the island of Ibiza all year round. “They told me I was crazy, that in Ibiza there was only drunken tourism” admits José Colomar. This is how the Royal Plaza Hotel was founded.
For three years, he was the president of the European Hotel Managers Association (EHMA), the European Luxury Hotel Association, and has held positions in other international and local bodies, such as Tourism Development, in addition to being Honorary Member of the Consell, creator of Ibiza and Formentera against Cancer (IFFC), member of the Rotary Club, Pro Arte and many other organisations on the island he has supported. But his curriculum does not end there; among his achievements, Colomar coined the name of the fashion for which the island of Ibiza is now known worldwide, Adlib fashion, which has become an integral part of Ibiza’s history. “We didn’t know what to call this quasi artistic trend and suddenly the Latin word Ad libitum, and its abbreviation Adlib, occurred to me as being a very good definition of that way of dressing freely, but with good taste”, he remembers.
As Colomar recalls, “in the first Adlib Catwalk, almost 50 years ago, more than fifteen fashion magazines came from all over Europe, which has never happened again” adding that “Princess Smilja Mihajlovic was a treasure for Ibiza because she was able to see the fashion that was on the streets”.
When he was Vice President of Tourism Development, Princess Smilja came to him to ask for help in promoting this new artistic movement. They got 700,000 pesetas to put on to their first fashion show and, according to this visionary, “the models paraded barefoot to the sound of music”, which, he points out, “was a worldwide shock because it was a very striking innovation”.
As a great lover of the island of Ibiza, José Colomar recommends those who don’t know it to spend at least ten days there to enjoy all its facets: “the beaches, the scenery to be seen while driving, the hotels, the cuisine, the Ciudad Alta, the Museum of Contemporary Art…” and a long list of recommendations that will make this first visit a unique experience, “then you just have to come back every year”, he concludes with a smile.
José Colomar concludes that it is essential for the Ibizans themselves “to be true lovers of Ibiza, to understand that it is a treasure and that there is no other island in the Mediterranean like it, and to defend and respect it”.